DW-1800-x-1200

Reading lists

Vintage new writers to discover in 2023

Janika Oza

[A] highly accomplished debut novel... a multi-stranded, intergenerational, poly-vocal epic that charts the struggles of an Indian family over the course of almost a century

An ambitious, powerful read, it will transport you through time and across the globe, with a story that you won't forget

An ambitious family drama skilfully explores the bonds of kinship and the yearning for peace and security

This striking epic combines powerful characters of different generations, compelling storytelling, dramatic settings and conflicts, and thoughtful explorations of displacement and belonging, family ties, citizenship, loyalty, loss, and resilience

A riveting testament to home, exile, survival, and inheritance

A History of Burning is that rare epic that manages to retain both its sweep and its intimacy... This is a beautiful book, unflinching yet deeply engaged

[Oza's] writing reminds people that vulnerability and openness are the only ways we can save each other. A History of Burning is the art we need now

Shyam Selvadurai, author of MANSIONS OF THE MOON

Intimate and epic... this book is a triumph

Ambitious in scope and dazzlingly executed, A History of Burning is a marvelous debut. A tour de force

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 
A SARAH JESSICA PARKER BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
Four generations. Three sisters. One impossible choice. 
 
Tricked aboard a boat to East Africa, Pirbhai is only thirteen when he is forced by the British into labouring on the railway. Under sweltering heat, hungry and frightened, he commits a terrible act just to survive. 
 
He will never tell a soul, even when he meets Sonal, a fierce, loving woman with whom he starts a family in Uganda, in hope of a better life. But their granddaughters come of age in a divided nation. 
 
Finally forced to flee, the family scatters across the world. They take with them a steel pot, a handful of photos, and a secret &ndash; that one day, will help them find each other again. 
 
A History of Burning is a gorgeous family portrait of love, survival, inheritance - and the eternal search for home. 
 
One family's search for a better life, for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and Pachinko 
 
'A remarkable debut . . . haunting, symphonic' New York Times 
 
'Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury . . . A book I want to press into readers' hands and discuss for hours' Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING 
 
Shortlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award

Janika Oza

Praise for A History of Burning

[A] highly accomplished debut novel... a multi-stranded, intergenerational, poly-vocal epic that charts the struggles of an Indian family over the course of almost a century

An ambitious, powerful read, it will transport you through time and across the globe, with a story that you won't forget

An ambitious family drama skilfully explores the bonds of kinship and the yearning for peace and security

[A] highly accomplished debut novel... a multi-stranded, intergenerational, poly-vocal epic that charts the struggles of an Indian family over the course of almost a century

An ambitious, powerful read, it will transport you through time and across the globe, with a story that you won't forget

An ambitious family drama skilfully explores the bonds of kinship and the yearning for peace and security

[A] highly accomplished debut novel... a multi-stranded, intergenerational, poly-vocal epic that charts the struggles of an Indian family over the course of almost a century

An ambitious, powerful read, it will transport you through time and across the globe, with a story that you won't forget

An ambitious family drama skilfully explores the bonds of kinship and the yearning for peace and security

Articles featuring Janika Oza

Vintage new writers to discover in 2023

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter